1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to supports or gussets for tank car nozzles and tank cars including such gussets for reinforcing nozzles.
2. Description of Related Art
Tank cars have been used for many years to transport a wide variety of commodities. The contents of a tank car sometimes may be potentially hazardous if appropriate safety precautions are not taken. Also, the contents of a tank car may be valuable and subject to theft or misappropriation.
Tank cars are designed with an access opening, manway, nozzle, or the like located in the upper portion of the associated tank, proximate a midpoint between opposite ends of the tank car. A cover plate is typically bolted or otherwise secured to the opening at the top of the nozzle to function as a liquid-tight closure and to allow only limited access to the interior of the tank. Various pipes, valves, fittings and other components are also often located in the vicinity of the opening to control adding and discharging of commodities from the tank car.
In the event of a rollover or accidental horizontal load, the forces acting on the tank car may be sufficient to cause the nozzle or cover plate to be damaged, allowing the contents of the tank car to leak out to the ambient environment, which may cause a hazardous condition and/or unrecoverable loss of the contents of the tank car. Accordingly, tank cars require protective structures for top fittings or nozzles to increase the forces that they can withstand. Nevertheless, tank car reinforcement structures are often difficult to manufacture and apply, are expensive, add significant weight to the tank cars, and may create a tripping hazard.